


Before the After-Hours

by Signalius (Twiranux)



Category: Polygon/McElroy Vlogs & Podcasts RPF
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Banter, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, Queerplatonic Relationships, Seven Minutes In Heaven Game, Surprise Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:07:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28766070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twiranux/pseuds/Signalius
Summary: "So that means we have this time to exchange intimates and our chat wouldn't know any better?" Brian's voice rings, piercing through the short-lived quiet.Pat nods. "Don't worry though, all of this is optional of course, we don't actually need to play—""But I've never done this before; let me experience a sliver of youth I've clearly missed, Pat Gill."_______________________Set around the time when Gill & Gilbert was still very much a thing.
Relationships: Brian David Gilbert/Patrick Gill
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	Before the After-Hours

**Author's Note:**

> Just wanna give a special shout-out to the fellow writers around here that write PatBri (or whatever it's called). I'm grateful and get inspired by your works, cheers.  
> Alt. Title: Brian keeps interrupting Pat mid-sentence.

Brian and Patrick often found it easy to bounce ideas and jokes back and forth between one another. They found themselves staying up late in a voice call, chatting the night away week after week, redefining the strict implications of work association and shifting into a genuine friendship. Now and again, a stray post-it would be found within the office, an amusingly written 'Endearment Note' meant for the other half of the duo. Other times, a pet name would slip within a conversation, only to be defended out of affection rather than embarrassment. Little inside jokes and ambiguous euphemisms became so ingrained in the day-to-day that the other members of Polygon eventually learned to pair Patrick and Brian up for projects, in order to favor the strong dynamic.

Gill and Gilbert is one such project. 

* * *

Five minutes into the stream, Brian decides on a whim to stick his left hand into the familiar pit of index cards and scrap paper, waving around aimlessly. "Let's do a segment to shake things up, shall we?"

"Sure, let's do it," Pat concurs, switching the video set-up to their main non-gameplay camera. Leaning toward the control board, he ends up colliding arms with Brian and accidentally pressing a couple of extra buttons.

The streaming audio turns chaotic, with multiple cues overlapping one another—drowning out the chuckling of the two hosts perfectly—before all the cues run their respective courses and the audio returning to normal.

"Great technical ability as always on Gill and Gilbert. Anyway, this is a segment called…" Brian chimes merrily, finally plucking out a piece of paper and reading the text in handwriting that isn't his own.

"From Jett Gilroy—ooh, a fellow Gil surname; _mute mic audio, switch to the intro bumper, and play Seven Minutes in Heaven with each other. We can wait._ "

"Oh? Rather interesti—"

"Uhm, Pat?” Brian interrupts, ”I don't know what Seven Minutes in Heaven is," admitting in a soft voice, hiding his mouth from the camera with his hand, being picked up by the microphone regardless.

"Uh, okay...We'll be right back everyone, we're just gonna take a rather specific seven-minute break." 

Shaking his head in disbelief, Pat switches OBS to the Gill and Gilbert pre-stream screen and then blocks out all external audio from going through the streaming program. 

"You're not kidding, you _actually_ don't know what it is?"

“I have a vague idea; but still, do tell." Brian pushes the mic away from his face. He turns his body toward Pat, clasping his hands together and sitting cross-legged on the couch cushions as he hones his attention in.

"Alright well, it's a social party game where two people are left alone in a room together, as the title implies, for seven minutes," Pat dryly explains as he adds a countdown timer overlay on the live stream.

"That's not too difficult then, yeah?"

Pat gives a once over to Brian, furrowing his brows over the word choice.

"Not too difficult? I guess; people normally would use the time as sort of a confessional and whatever else."

Pat glances back over to the setup, double-checking that the stream is indeed still going, solely looping the 'stay tuned' bumper and jingle. Nudging his microphone off to the side, he celebrates the minor success of his technical work with a grin. With the tip of his tongue habitually touching the corner of his mouth, he sighs in confidence as relief mends his worked up nerves.

"So that means we have this time to exchange intimates and our chat wouldn't know any better?" Brian's voice rings, piercing through the short-lived quiet.

Pat nods. "Don't worry though, all of this is optional of course, we don't actually _need_ to play—"

"But I've never done this before; let me experience a sliver of youth I've clearly missed, Pat Gill."

With breath hitching, a rush of thoughts suddenly enters Pat's mind and his heart rate increases. He catches Brian's gaze directly on him: patient, curious, a subtle hint of mischief. Something about Brian's particular demeanor felt inherently coquettish, yet Pat didn't feel the need to stop the advance. 

"You're...persistent," he contends, careful over his wording.

"Is it too scandalous, perhaps—while technically on air, at work of all places—to be playing this game?" Brian reaches his right arm out, poking his co-worker lightly on the knee.

"It's not, why else would I have written it down and tossed that segment in with the rest of them?" Pat shrugs his shoulders, feigning innocence.

"Fair point. You start then, so I get a basic idea of how this works."

"We don't need to take turns, per se. But just as a basis, sure I'll lead. How about...we just hold hands?"

Pat leans closer, extending both of his arms out to take Brian's hands into his own, each of his fingers intertwining with the younger’s. Clasping each other's hands awkwardly, their palms collide, their wrists snapping up at an uncomfortable angle.

"I'm sure we've held hands a few times before, but never like this. Quite intriguing," Brian points out, arching an eyebrow. 

"Figured it's something to break the ice, get the ball rolling.” Pat gulps audibly, noting his awkward and lanky fingers somehow fitting perfectly into the empty spaces of Brian's hands. 

“You don’t need to hold so tightly,” Brian reassures, with a slight strain in his voice. “Oh, now you’re shaking and I can feel your heartbeat from between your fingers.”

Pat shakes his head, his face growing pink and beginning to sweat from the tension. He takes a deep breath, fixating on the glimmer of Brian’s fingernails juxtaposed with the slightly flushed skin that is the back of his hand. Brian’s hands are soft and inviting, in comparison to his own, weathered and bony.

"F-Fuck. Sorry, I...I don't know why I'm getting nervous all of a sudden," Pat stammers, wide-eyed and lips pursed.

"Don't worry about it! As you said, this will just be between us two, right?" In a comforting manner, Brian lightly squeezes down on the older's hands. "Though, we should maybe stop the hand-holding because this is putting some bad muscle strain on my forearms."

"Agreed."

Ultimately, the two let go; Patrick resets his arms to his sides, while Brian combs his hands through his hair multiple times. They sit in silence for a few moments, looking past each other and allowing their brains to catch up. 

"Right, so—"

“I’ve always wanted to touch that peculiar grey spot on your beard, Pat.” Brian blurts out all of a sudden, biting the inside of his cheek out of anxiety. 

"O-Oh? Go ahead. I mean, feel free to."

Slow and deliberate, Brian gently cups the side of Patrick's face, the coarse facial hair sending tingles through his fingertips. He gently traces a curve under Pat’s bottom lip using his thumb, almost forgetting what he originally set out to do as his heart flutters wildly inside his chest. 

“It’s not magic or anything, heh. It just appeared over time, you know, with age.” Pat dispels, scoffing lightheartedly. He then raises his eyebrows, not getting an immediate response. "Everything alright?"

"It's getting difficult to think of words to say," Brian mutters shyly, finally taking his eyes off of Pat's tempting lips.

"Now you know how I feel. How about this then…"

Pat leans more of his head into Brian's palm, nestling the lower half of his face on a supple portion just below the thumb. He presses his lips gently against the warmth of the younger's hand, humming in composed delight.

"Geez Louise, _Patrick._ " Brian gasps, biting down on his lower lip in reaction.

"Ah sorry, am I hurting you or something?" Pat retreats his head, looking with worry. "Shit, am I being too much?"

"I'm more than fine. I just...didn't expect you kissing me at all; I didn't think you liked me back, as in actually romantically." Brian confesses with his voice quivering.

The intense, suffocating anxiety occupying his entire body suddenly comes to a stop; the knell of Brian's truth giving Patrick a dose of reality. A once buried-away thought now resurfaces, found only through epiphany. The rest of Pat's panic and stress dissipates, the veil of a straight-arrow friendship finally pulling away and replaced with tender vulnerability.

Pat's words eventually find their way out.

"Honestly? I've always liked you, Brian. It grew with time as we got to work together," he finally admits, his heart pounding louder than before. "I suppose I'm just a dumbass who can't do emotions right sometimes."

"I think we never really talked it over, but it certainly feels like we naturally fell into a mutual, ambiguously-romantic understanding. Here, Pat, I know exactly how comfortable we already are with one another." 

Brian extends his arms out, gesturing for a hug. Pat in turn accepts the offer, wrapping his arms around the younger's torso all snug. He then affectionately nuzzles against the rough underside of Pat's jaw, staying intimately close and breathing in the subtlest trace of cologne. For a moment, everything felt right.

"Fuck, this is nice," Pat professes, clutching tighter.

"Mhm," Brian nods, his murmurs sending shivers up and down the other's back. "So imagine this, but more."

After recollecting his thoughts, Brian withdraws from the embrace and guides Pat to meet eyes with him, savoring the view—Pat's eyes wide and beguiling, lips slightly apart with his tongue touching the right corner. Where words fail him, Brian expresses his composed affection with a slow blink and a fond smile. 

"Does it have to _stay_ ambiguous then, you think?" Pat wonders, sighing. "Maybe we can work something out, maybe start...dating?"

"I got an idea. How about we use the last few minutes to _show_ instead of _telling_ our mutual, perhaps openly-romantic feelings?" 

"...You wanna kiss for real and go from there, maybe?"

"Did you read my mind?" Brian chuckles timidly. "Absolutely yeah, let's do this, Pat Gill."

"Yeah, let's make it happen."

Patrick's blinks turn more into a nervous fluttering of the eyelids as he inches closer, their nervous energies combining as their sense of personal space disappears. He rests his hands on either side of Brian’s hips—his thumb pressing against the soft skin of the vulnerable lower waist area. 

"That tickled a little, but it's totally fine," Brian mutters, locking his fingers together as he rests his hands on the nape of Pat's neck.

"Whoops, sorry. I want it to be a memorable experience...and again, I'm not exactly brushed up on how to be romantic."

"Oh Pat, it's okay! So far, all of this has been more than fine. And now? This is just a very sweet bonus on top."

With a nod, Patrick grazes Brian's nose using his own, his facial hair pressing in between the tops of their lips. They remain there for a few moments with eyes closed, hovering just a few centimeters away from one another. 

The suspense peels away, their lips finally meet; a soft hum vibrates through Pat's nostrils, angling his face more comfortably—the kiss sweetly indulgent and sincere. 

A small whimper escapes Brian's lips, shuddering at the eager yet careful temperament of Pat's hands wandering from his waist to his lower back—providing support following Pat deepening the kiss. Brian slacks his jaw a bit as he eases into it, the race of nervous thoughts calming down as he refocuses all thoughts solely on Patrick. The edges of his lips curl up into a smile as he then kisses back with matching intensity, accepting the rushing swell of fervor coursing through his system. With breath hot and heavy, Brian playfully swipes his tongue across Pat's bottom lip before leaving a series of gentle little bites, of which each nibble forces out a demure sigh from the affected Pat. 

The last nibble, in particular, causes Patrick to pull away, taking a deep breath and then snickering shortly after. 

"If that's what we've been missing out on, we have a lot of catching up to do," he points out, moving both of his hands to rest on Brian's shoulders.

"I have to admit, I never thought I'd see the day," Brian vocalizes contentedly, smirking at his own joke.

Suddenly, he pulls Pat close for another kiss—puckering up with slightly more confidence than before, yet maintaining the tenderness of his now undeniable elation. Brian crinkles his nose and raises his shoulders before pulling away with a loud and comedic plop.

"This particular broadcast is gonna be a mess, I can already tell," Pat remarks, tucking some loose hairs behind the younger's ear. "I can already feel the VOD becoming yet another one of the unlisted episodes."

"Don't get too worked up about it, an hour isn't so bad. And afterward? Who knows; the night is young, Pat Gill." Brian gives an exaggerated wink before turning his attention back to the main live stream camera.

Patrick scoffs in response, arching an eyebrow before throwing himself back into work mode: his fingers busily tapping away on the laptop keyboard and trackpad to restore the live feed of their show to normal in a hurried manner.

"Welcome back everyone, you didn't miss too much there," Pat outright lies, passing a mischievous glare to Brian. "Oh, but we are sorry for going over the seven minutes there, folks."

"Time can be quite the fickle being. But hey, that's going to be a…" Brian trails off a bit before letting the audio clip play. 

"Segment complete."


End file.
